


Words Are Hard

by thunderingskies



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 06:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8568193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderingskies/pseuds/thunderingskies
Summary: There is one person that Kyoutani can’t handle.One person who keeps trying to talk to Kyoutani, but just ends up leaving him in a tongue-tied, blushing, completely embarrassed mess. He can’t initiate conversation and can barely follow it; he just doesn’t know how to handle him, and it’s frustrating.Iwaizumi Hajime.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dragona15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragona15/gifts).



> This was inspired by Dragona15's lovely art which you can see [here](http://muffinhoe-thedragon.tumblr.com/post/153179376907/%E0%B2%A0-%E0%B2%A0-how-to-approach-senpai-101)! Thank you for inspiring me, and for listening to my ramblings about all the rarepairs we love <3

Being a part of a team is hard.

Working with people - communicating with them - has never been Kyoutani’s strong suit. He’s awkward, and abrasive; rough around the edges. He always seems to say the wrong thing at the wrong time- and don’t even get him started on all the poor first impressions he’s made. He looks like a delinquent and that resting bitch face of his isn’t doing him any favours. 

Look, the point is that he’s not anyone’s pick for  _ team player _ . Even friends are few and far between - mostly just Yahaba and Watari, and sometimes Kyoutani doesn’t even understand  _ those _ friendships.  He sort of just fell into them, really; one day they weren’t friends, and the next it was like they were done dealing with his shit. Yahaba stopped letting him run around like he owned the place and Watari followed suit, so he has had to get used to that pretty quickly.

He’s done pretty well. He usually remembers to say hello back when Watari greets him, and he remembers to answer at least half of Yahaba’s text messages; he listens,  _ sometimes _ , when Oikawa asks him to do things even. He’s making an effort.

However, now that Watari and Yahaba start treating him more casually, the rest of the team is starting to follow suit. The fear he once held over them has been shed; the first-years are even calmer around him, and Kindaichi has even gotten into the habit of asking him to observe his spikes.

But here’s the thing.

There is one person that Kyoutani  _ can’t _ handle.

One person who keeps trying to talk to Kyoutani, but just ends up leaving him in a tongue-tied, blushing, completely embarrassed mess. He can’t initiate conversation and can barely follow it; he just doesn’t know how to handle him, and it’s frustrating.

Iwaizumi Hajime.

Aoba Johsai’s ace, their vice captain.

He’s never been intimidated by Kyoutani. He’s always seen right through him - through all the shit, through the rough and tumble layers right to his core; he’s always known who he is, and what he’s worth. It’s exhilarating, in a way, to be noticed like that. To be understood so wholly and completely. He feels like he can’t hide anything from him. Iwaizumi notices his ups and his downs, picks apart his very being in such a way that leaves him craving more.

That’s the scary part - Kyoutani wants more. Every time his senpai comes over to chat, Kyoutani finds himself wanting to extend the conversation, wanting to pull more words out of him (because  _ damn _ he could listen to him talk forever). The sound of his  _ laugh _ ? It’s music to his ears, and it’s turning him into a downright sap.

The worst part? He doesn’t even hate it. He  _ likes _ it when a song reminds him of the way Iwaizumi spikes a ball, or how he addresses the team with such strong, unwavering confidence; it brings a smile on his face, listening to the radio, only to find another song he wants to download to his phone to listen to again later.

Kyoutani stays late after practice one Friday afternoon, practicing his spikes with Yahaba. They’re working more fluidly, now; they’re in much better sync than they were in the last tournament. 

After the ball is tossed, Yahaba is quick to get himself into place; he angles himself under the ball, toss aiming high towards the net. Kyoutani is there, ready - he squares his shoulders, bending his knees and jumping up, as high as his legs will take him. 

The ball is there to greet him like an old friend; his palm is hot as he smacks it with everything he’s got, sending it down on to the gym floor with a loud smack. 

“Nice!” Yahaba grins, wiping the sweat from his face with his shirt, “I think I’m done for the night. You?” He tilts his head to the side, careful smirk on his face as he looks over to the other side of the gym, where Iwaizumi and Oikawa are bickering about their training regime for the week.

Of  _ course _ Yahaba knows, and of  _ course _ he just loves to tease him about it. Asshole.

“Or are you-”

“ _ Yes,” _ Kyoutani grits, effectively cutting him off, “Let’s go clean up.”

Yahaba grins brilliantly, tossing the volleyball in his hands right at Kyoutani, making him catch it with a soft grunt. He chuckles as they head over to the storage room, grabbing the bin to bring out and start collecting the volleyballs. They’re scattered all over the gym; the first-years had left right after practice, leaving the second and third-years to clean up the gym. 

Watari’s sick, and with Iwaizumi and Oikawa bickering, that leaves Kyoutani, Yahaba, Matsukawa and Hanamaki. 

Kyoutani perks up, looking for those two, who are probably avoiding work like they usually do-

“Really? Iwaizumi used to do stuff like that?”

He tunes in, quickly, to the two delinquents talking in the club room. Talking about Iwaizumi?

“Yeah,” it’s Hanamaki, and he’s laughing. “Apparently he was huge into it. Oikawa told me.”

All his thoughts of interrupting them, and telling them to come clean up are gone; he has to hear what they’re talking about.

“I mean, I guess it makes sense. He seems like the type who would be really into bugs as a kid. So he like collected beetles and stuff?”

“Uh huh. He wasn’t allowed to keep them in the house but he kept them for a while in his yard in jars. He let them go before they died, though.”

Matsukawa laughs, softly. “That sounds just like him.”

“Hey, Kyoutani!” Yahaba yells from across the gym, “Hurry the hell up! What are you doing over there? Daydreaming about-”

“I’m  _ coming!” _ Kyoutani shouts, cheeks heating up. He hurriedly gathers up the volleyballs from the gym floor, rushing them over to the bin and pushing it back into the storage room. He shuffles his way past Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who are still arguing, heading for the locker room.

“Kyouken-chan!” Oikawa whines, “Iwa-chan thinks we should not have practice this Thursday for a rest day. What do you think?”

_ What does he think?  _ All he can seem to think about is the fact that Iwaizumi is standing there and watching him, hand on his hip, incredulous look on his face.

“Don’t try and bully him into siding with you, Oikawa.”

Oikawa scoffs, rolling his eyes. “I’m not! I’m just done talking to you, Iwa-chan, you don’t listen; it’s like talking to a brick wall.”

Iwaizumi huffs. He turns his attention back to Kyoutani, and being under his gaze makes him sweat; he shoves his hands in his pockets, hands curling into fists in an attempt to calm himself down.

_ You can do this, you can do this, talk normally- _

“Do that,” he says, making completely no sense.

“Do what?” Oikawa tilts his head to the side.

Kyoutani’s tongue feels heavy in his mouth and he swallows, trying desperately to form some sort of coherent words. “Do… the thing… no practice. What Iwaizumi said. On Thursday. Cancel it.”

Smooth.

Iwaizumi’s facial expression doesn’t change, but Oikawa’s goes from curious to confused and then to a strong pout. “Okay,  _ fine! _ But you have to tell everyone.” 

“Fine,” Iwaizumi agrees, “And I’d better not catch you training that day, Oikawa, or you’re getting a volleyball to the face.”

“So mean, Iwa-chan.” He grabs his backpack, turning to head back to the locker rooms. 

Kyoutani is suddenly  _ keenly  _ aware of how close he is to Iwaizumi; the two are but a foot apart, and Iwaizumi is still looking at him with that strange expression that Kyoutani can’t name. 

He pauses, and-

“Thanks, Kyoutani. Some rest is good.”

Kyoutani sweats. “Um. Yeah.” He averts his eyes, looking down at the floor.

Iwaizumi offers him a smile, nodding. “Good work today. You’d better take it easy, too; I don’t want you getting overworked either.”

He nods, shakily, chancing a look up. “Yeah. I won’t.”

A nod, and he’s grabbing his bag too. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then, Kyoutani.”

Words are hard, so he just jerks his head again, trying his best to maintain his composure while Iwaizumi finally vacates his space, leaving behind the musk of sweat and the distinct warm atmosphere of his smile. 

Kyoutani’s head spins.

How is he supposed to deal with  _ that? _

He tries to relax, waiting a few minutes before hitting the locker room and changing. He pulls on his regular clothes, a pair of jeans, and a red zip-up. 

On his way out, Kyoutani spots it.

A little beetle.

It can’t be bigger than his thumb, he reckons; it’s sitting on the step outside the gym, just practically  _ asking _ for someone to pick it up. It’s a strange, deep colour. Kyoutani doesn’t know much about bugs so he’s clueless as to the value of this one. 

Gingerly, he drops himself down on one of the stairs. He draws his knees up to his chest, sighing deeply, as more thoughts of Iwaizumi flood his mind. 

He pokes the bug with his foot, and it wiggles under his touch, flipping over onto its back.

Iwaizumi would probably know what kind of bug this is…

Maybe he could… ask him about it?

He could probably get him talking… and when Iwaizumi is interested in what he’s talking about - like when he talks about volleyball, or any of the other sports he excels at - he gets even more animated than usual…

Kyoutani pokes the bug again, and it moves; this time shuffling a little bit closer to his foot. He wonders what would be the best way to pick it up…

A stick, maybe?

He stares at it a bit longer before sighing loudly.

Yeah.

Kyoutani’s got it bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know if you think there should be a sequel ;)


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